


Meanwhile

by moonlight69



Category: Cal Leandros - Rob Thurman
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-20
Updated: 2015-12-20
Packaged: 2018-05-07 20:43:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5470229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonlight69/pseuds/moonlight69
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While Niko fights to save his brother, someone else is fighting to save Niko.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Meanwhile

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Tedronai](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tedronai/gifts).



> Takes place during the events of _Nightlife._ Slightly AU. Or is it? ;)

I sat at the coffee table, a notepad in front of me, making a list: all of the contacts I could think of, anyone who might be able to give us an inkling of where to find my brother. Georgina had been frustratingly unforthcoming on the subject, even after we'd make quick work of the pair of werewolves sent to her apartment, clearly by Darkling. I didn't know what it hoped to accomplish beyond chaos, but Goodfellow had assured me that was accomplishment enough for it.

There had been genuine remorse in the seer's eyes as she'd apologized and said she couldn't help us. It made me wonder what she saw that she wouldn't say. What had happened? …What was _going_ to happen? The only reason I could think was that she saw that Cal was…

No. That path led to madness, and I already teetered far closer to the brink of my sanity than I was comfortable with as it was. I hadn't slept in days, and wouldn't until I had my brother back. Sleep was wasted time, time Cal could ill-afford me to waste. I shook my head to clear it and went back to my list.

Robin sat in the ratty recliner across from me, morosely poking a fork into a cardboard takeout container. A similar one full of steamed vegetables rested on the table near me, barely touched. Without sleep, I knew I needed to eat regularly to keep my strength up, but I had no appetite to speak of. Still, I reached out, speared a stalk of broccoli, and robotically chewed and swallowed. For Cal.

The puck had been uncharacteristically silent while I worked, and spending the past several days in his almost-constant company had taught me that it wouldn't last long, and when the silence broke, it wasn't likely to be anything I wished to hear. Once again I was right.

"Niko," Robin said, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees as he eyed me warily. His expression told me precisely what he would say next: it was a conversation he'd tried to have dozens of times since I'd lost Cal, but he refused to give up. "Look, I know he's your brother, and anyone can see that you would move mountains to get him back…but Darkling--"

I cut him off with nothing more than a frigid stare. My brother was still out there. Robin may know a great deal about a great many things, but on this count he was wrong. Cal was a fighter. He wouldn't give up, and therefore I couldn't give up on him. He was in there still, and I would find a way to get him out.

The puck's shoulders sagged as he abandoned yet another attempt. "Will you at least get some sleep? I can make some calls for you. Hell, I can probably triple the length of your list. I know anyone who's worth knowing. Besides, you're no good to your brother if you're too tired to go on."

"There will be plenty of time to sleep when he's back," I said quietly, giving a faint shake of my head. "I have to keep going. He'd do the same for me."

Robin stood and set his food on the coffee table, moving to sit next to me on our ratty sofa. "I know he would, Niko, and he'd be just as big of a stubborn idiot as you're being. The human body can only be pushed so far." His hands moved to my shoulders, massaging them. Normally I would shrug such a gesture off, put some space between us. The puck had made his interest in me quite clear from the beginning, and I had no wish to lead him on. However, I made no move to stop him this time. Whether it was a moment of weakness brought on by stress, lack of sleep, or something deeper, more primal--a simple need for comfort, the kind of comfort I'd only ever had from my brother before today, the touch was welcome. 

My shoulders sagged a little as he shifted, nudging me forward to the edge of the couch as he slid behind me, his legs on the outside of mine, giving him a much better angle to work--and work he did. Robin may have had many less-than-desirable traits, including a mouth that never stopped moving, a sexual appetite I'm not certain could ever be slaked, and no shortage of ego, but when you'd lived as long as he, I suppose you learned a few tricks. The tricks he was employing on me soon had my usual self control all but lying in a puddle at my feet as I leaned bonelessly into his touch.

"See? You need this," he murmured near my ear, his breath warm as it ghosted across my skin. "If you won't sleep, at least let me relax you for a little bit. I promise, we'll work twice as hard to make up for it. I want him back too." At the mention of my brother, I stiffened again. Cal. I didn't have time for this. I needed to find Cal.

I opened my mouth to protest as Robin's thumb found a pressure point on my back and the relaxing warm rush of endorphins he released turned any words I might have uttered into a moan of pleasure. I could practically hear my little brother in my head as my resolve wavered. _Jesus, Cyrano, just because you follow the way of the monk doesn't mean you have to have the sex life of one. Enjoy yourself for once._ I knew the guilt I would feel later would only be compounded if I gave in, but in the moment, it seemed a worthy price to pay.

I knew where Goodfellow intended to take this, and now that I had made my choice, I was more than ready to move it in that direction. Robin had been quiet as he worked, other than his single comment, and the last thing I wanted was for him to start talking right now, so I did what I knew would best keep him quiet--or at least mostly wordless. I twisted around, gripping his cheeks, and kissed him thoroughly.

To say I surprised him would be an understatement, but it didn't take him long to respond, only a moment while the shock wore off, and then he was kissing me back with a skill and fervor that had me melting even more than the massage had. The kiss went on for several seconds, until I broke away, the position awkward to hold comfortably for too long. Besides, if we were going to do this, I didn't want it to happen on the beat-up old couch. I would rather be lying on the clean, crisp sheets of my bed.

I rose and held out a hand wordlessly, and Robin grinned as he took it and followed me to my feet. The grin wasn't the usual lascivious one you always saw just before being regaled with a tale of his sexual prowess, exploits, or depravities--or more frequently all three. It was one of sheer startled delight, and making him smile like that made me glad I had made the choice I did.

I led him down the short hallway to my room, eyes averted from the closed door in the hall that housed living quarters that ought to be condemned. I didn't want to think about my brother in this moment. Cal would understand that, I told myself, and hoped it wasn't justification. It felt true, at least.

Once we reached the bedroom I closed the door and began undressing, piling up twice as many blades as clothing articles as I did so. Goodfellow removed a fair amount himself, a fact that made me smile. I didn't know what fates had brought him into our lives, but I was beginning to think it was for a very good reason--or several, even. But those were thoughts for another day.

For now, there was Robin, now naked and--dear God. I began having second thoughts as I stared. The gods had been…very generous.

He saw my expression and smirked. "I know how to use it too," he assured me, closing the distance and pulling me into his arms for another kiss. "Trust me," he whispered against my lips.

Trust. It was not something I gave freely, or ever, really. But now, here, with him…I felt as though I could. Yes, I could trust Robin. To fight by our sides, to help me find my brother…and to bring me enjoyment, pleasure, not pain.

Still, there was no way that thing was going inside of me. He would just have to figure out something else, and I had no doubt his list of 'something else' was longer than I ever wanted to know. So I would trust him, for he was one of the few in a long line of acquaintances who had yet to let me down.

We fell onto the bed, and I forgot how to think as his mouth and hands explored my body. I did my best to reciprocate, but Robin seemed quite content to be doing all of the work. "I'm trying to make you relax, for the love of Zeus. Now lie back and relax," he chided, pressing a palm to my chest as I tried to sit up, to reach for him. I sighed and sank into the mattress, and the sounds he was soon drawing from me were unlike any I had ever made before, I was pretty sure. I wouldn't exactly say I was _relaxed_ , but I was certainly enjoying myself.

His mouth moved lower, and abruptly I arched up off of the bed as pleasure unlike any I'd ever known engulfed me. For several moments, my world consisted of warmth and suction and sheer ecstasy as I writhed beneath Robin's talented mouth, all of my carefully-cultivated walls fallen to rubble within me. I was undone, unmade, and I wanted _more_.

It wasn't long before the tension building within me was undeniable, and I tried to give Robin some sort of warning. I wasn't sure if I succeeded, before I bucked up into his mouth, spending myself in a climax that left me senseless for several moments with its intensity.

When I came back to myself, Robin had already moved back up the bed, lying on his side next to me with his hand resting possessively on my chest. "Is it bragging if it's all true?" he commented with a playful grin as he watched my eyes uncross. I made a rather undignified grunting noise, weakly swatting at his arm. 

"Yes," I murmured, trying to gather myself to return the favor, though I knew nothing I could do with my limited-to-nonexistent experience would come close to what he'd just done for me. As I pushed up, trying to get to my elbows, however, his hand pressed me back down into the bed. 

"Nope," he said cheerfully. "You're not going anywhere. Sleep now, you can get me later. Or at least rest for a few thrice-damned minutes." He leaned over and kissed me again, gentle this time, almost caring. "This one was just for you."

I knew I should get up. My brother still needed me, and we were no closer to finding him, to bringing him back, than we'd been the night he'd disappeared, but my body seemed to have other ideas. My limbs were relaxed and heavy and my eyelids were stubbornly refusing to remain open. Still, I knew if I slept now, I would be out for several hours unless roused. "Twenty minutes," I told him firmly. "No more. Then we start making calls."

Robin rolled his eyes, clearly not pleased by the duration. "Forty-five, and I'll start making the calls while you rest." I considered protesting, but he was trying to be kind, to be helpful--to take care of me. It was an utterly foreign concept to me, someone other than Cal caring for me, caring _about_ me, but he _was_ trying, and for that I was grateful. Somehow, when were weren't looking, the puck had become a friend, and I decided to let him fill that role--for an extra twenty-five minutes at least.

"Forty-five," I relented with a small twitch of my lips that few would recognize as a smile. Robin seemed to, however, and he grinned and snuggled against me for a moment before getting up and heading for the bedroom door--still utterly naked. I chuckled softly, but held sleep at bay until I heard his voice in the living room, clearly speaking to someone on the phone. As he was as good as his word, I would be as good as mine.

I closed my eyes, letting sleep wash over me, and thought, _And once we get my brother back, it_ will _be your turn, Robin Goodfellow._ For one good turn deserved another.

**Author's Note:**

> A huge thanks to metaphoracle for the 11th-hour beta!


End file.
